This was great a book and really is a must read. I read this for a class, and I enjoyed exploring and discussing the ideas presented within but unfortunately the text was a bit disappointing. I felt as if some of the arguments could have been presented more convincingly. As someone else put it: "Its ideas merit five stars, but the text sags a bit and tends to repeat itself a lot, thereby losing some power." ( )

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it was interesting and inspiring to read about the authors' firm's eco-efficient designs. But for the most part it still seemed pretty pie in the sky--great ideas that unfortunately aren't feasible at this time.

I also don't like the authors' premise that it's possible to live an ecologically sound life without reducing consumption. It sounds appealing to believe that one shouldn't have to sacrifice one's lifestyle in order to fix the planet, but isn't uncritical consumption what got us into this environmental mess in the first place? ( )

The biggest thing about this book is the material used for the pages. It says it's a recyclable plastic. Well and good. But no where does it say how to appropriately dispose of it so it can be recycled.Major detraction.

I'm a freecycle/recycle/thriftshop geek and William McDonough's book, written with his colleague, the German chemist Michael Braungart, is a manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design. ( )

To our families, and to all of the children of all species for all time

First words

In the twenty-some years since I came up with the phrase "cradle to cradle", it has become as complicated as a musical score.

Quotations

We did not design the materials of this book. After years of analyzing and testing polymers to replace paper, we were delighted when designer Janine James happened to mention our search to Charlie Melcher of Melcher Media. Melcher was working with a paer adapted from a polymer blend that had been used to label detergent bottles, so that the labels could be recycled along with the bottles instead of being burned off...When Michael tested it, he found that it off-gassed similarly to a conventional book. But it could be recycled, and more to the point, it has the potential to be upcycled: dissolved and remade as polymer of high quality and usefulness.

Wikipedia in English (6)

Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process. Cradle to Cradle is a refreshing change from the intractable environmental conflicts that dominate headlines. It's a handbook for 21st-century innovation and should be required reading for business hotshots and environmental activists. --Therese Littleton

Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process. Cradle to Cradle is a refreshing change from the intractable environmental conflicts that dominate headlines. It's a handbook for 21st-century innovation and should be required reading for business hotshots and environmental activists. --Therese Littleton

A manifesto for a radically different philosophy and practice of manufacture and environmentalism. "Reduce, reuse, recycle," urge environmentalists--in other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. As this book argues, however, this approach perpetuates a one-way "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. Why not challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably damage the natural world, they ask. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new. Elaborating their principles from experience (re)designing everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, the authors make an exciting and viable case for change.--From publisher description.… (more)